It's Easy to Fix
by Gindokei
Summary: She was the introvert, he was the energetic one. She had been through a lot. Will he be able to befriend her? Will she tell him what made her like this? Troyella in kindergarten. Oneshot. Formerly 'Bright Starlight'


_It's Easy to Fix_

**AN: So this is my second oneshot. I hope I don't** **disappoint anyone. I was totally amazed at the reviews I got - 12 reviews on the first day! Well, only 12 reviews, but way more than I expected, and I was so grateful to read all those positive reviews. So here you go, It's Easy to Fix**

**Disclaimer: You know I don't own HSM... if I did... I'd do something weird and crazy with all the money**

"Momma!" the young girl cried pitifully, clinging to her mother's leg. "I don' wanna go! Please!" She howled and tugged on the woman's leg. The mother smiled patiently and bent down to pull her daughter away from her gently. Her warm brown eyes met the little girl's, the same shade of brown as her mother's. The girl sniffled pathetically and wiped at her face.

"Ella, Ella, sweetheart," the mother said quietly, "you'll get to meet new children! Won't that be fun? You'll have so many new friends by the end of the day, I'm sure." Mrs. Montez tried to soothe her daughter, but the girl continued to sob. Mrs. Montez bit her lip and picked up little Gabriella, dressed immaculately in a pink frock with her long curls brushed until they shone.

Mrs. Montez held down her sudden rush of anxiety. Her daughter wasn't going anywhere, was she? It was just a matter of a few hours. She looked into Gabriella's round worried face, her eyes still full of tears and her cheeks still wet.

"Momma," she whimpered into her mother's neck, "I don' wanna go. Please, Momma!" Mrs. Montez sighed softly, tucking a curl of the girl's hair back behind her ear. What could she say to make the fretful youngster understand?

"Ella, dear," she crooned softly, "Mommy will be back very soon. Promise." Gabriella looked up at her mother, sticking out her lower lip. Her eyes searched her mother's, seeking reassurance.

"Promise?" the five-year-old asked. Mrs. Montez nodded, smiling at the girl, stroking her cheek gently and hugging her small body. She set her back down on the ground, giving her a gentle push in the direction of the building.

"Go on now, darling. Have fun." Gabriella trotted off obediently, turning to wave one hand at her mother, the other stuck in her mouth. The worried mother laughed softly, hiding her fears of Gabriella's first day of kindergarten.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Not too far away, a similar scene was being played out. The small boy glared up at his father, arms crossed stubbornly, his face creased into an angry look. The man sighed, and squatted down to face him. "Come on son, don't make this so hard for me," he said wearily. The boy stuck out his tongue defiantly, a smug little smile on his face now. He was clad in a white and red shirt and long red shorts. His hair was light brown and already shaggy for his five-and-a-half years. His father stayed on the ground, head bowed in defeat.

The boy couldn't take it anymore and yelled gleefully, "I win, daddy!" Jack Bolton's face split into a wide smile. "I guess you did, huh Troy?" He got up slowly, eyeing his son. Troy paused, watching his father closely. Jack Bolton casually leaned down as if to hug his son, but swooped in and tickled him ferociously. Troy yelped, wriggling and squirming, tears of laughter running down his cheeks. Jack continued to tickle him mercilessly until Troy pounded on his back, begging him to stop.

The father set down his little boy and beamed at him fondly, ruffling his hair. "Hey sport, just go out and get 'em," he reassured his son. Troy's face fell again, his blue eyes growing darker.

"But I don' know anyone there," he wailed. "I wanna go home!" He lifted up his arms towards his father, a hopeful look on his face. But Jack shook his head gently.

"Troy, son, you'll have a lot of fun. Don't worry. But daddy has to go, he'll be late for work," he invented quickly, casting a glance at his watch. He nearly jumped – it wasn't a lie, he _would_ be late for work if he didn't hurry. So he briefly kissed Troy on the head and headed towards his car, waving cheerily at him. His son watched him with a stony expression, determined not to go into the brightly painted building and stay outside. He _wasn't_ going to go to school! Or kingerdarten, or whatever his father had called it.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

But it was hard to resist the sound of the yells of laughter of the other children, and the smell of cookies in the air. Finally Troy couldn't take it and dashed across the silent schoolyard and into the open, inviting doors of the classroom. He paused for a moment outside the door, seeing so many eyes fixed on him. He shyly looked at his little white shoes, nervously waiting by the doorway.

Soon a round, friendly woman came over, a smile on her face. She had pale red hair and bright brown eyes. She leaned down and extended her hand to the little boy, her smile gentle and understanding. "Hi there," she said softly. "My name's Ms. Argent, but you can call me Ms. A, okay?"

Troy looked up at her open face with the crinkles near the eyes. A warm, responsive face. He nodded quickly. "Imma Troy," he announced loudly. Ms. A let out a soft chuckle and led him to a vacant seat. It was shaped like a teddy bear, which he didn't like much, but he didn't mind. The boy looked around the class, deciding he liked it here and liked Ms. A greatly. A smile spread across his face as he happily listened to the teacher introduce everyone all over again.

"This is Robby… this is Kelly… this is Chad…" Troy couldn't help but let out a snort at the last child. Chad had puffy hair sticking out of his head, giving him a slightly demented look. He scowled at the other boy, who immediately rearranged his features into an innocent grin. Ms. A smiled indulgently at both of them and continued pointing out different members of the class.

"And this is… oh, sweetie, come here," she called to a small figure seated in a chair in the corner. Reluctantly, the figure pulled its chair closer and hunched over. It was a girl – with guarded eyes. She gave a tiny smile to the teacher, who concluded, "and this is Gabriella! So, everyone, meet your classmate Troy!" The bold boy grinned at everyone and arched his arm in a wave. The others laughed and clamored around him, all greeting him.

Gabriella, however, sat on her chair as if glued to it. The loud sounds around terrified her, and the other children frightened her as well, with their curious eyes and prodding fingers. Her eyes flitted from one child to another, and she unintentionally chewed on her bottom lip until it bled and she cried out in pain. All the children's eyes darted to her, and she made a feeble movement with her hand. "N-nothing…" she mumbled. They all shrugged and turned away.

She shrunk away from them all, padding off to a small corner to play with several wooden bricks lying there. And for a while she was content, building towers and houses out of colorful blocks.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Troy was in his element. He _loved_ school! He was in the process of making an elephant out of building blocks with his newfound friend, the boy with fuzzy hair… well, now that he looked at it, it looked more like a lopsided building. So an idea struck him, and they began to make a city.

Other children came over and watched, fascinated. Some tried to help as well, and ended up knocking down the two or three towers Chad and Troy had succeeded in building. Troy merely laughed, but Chad looked upset.

"It's okay," the blue-eyed boy assured his friend. "I'll go get more, so we can make it even bigger!" He spread out his hands to try and explain just _how_ big it would be, and Chad looked delighted now. He nodded in agreement, and his hair bobbed. Troy suppressed a giggle and turned, looking for wooden blocks.

He glimpsed a pile of them lying in a corner. Moving eagerly towards them, he noticed suddenly that there was a girl sitting there, happily piling blocks on top of each other. Her smile was wide and her brown eyes shone gleefully. But then she caught sight of Troy and her smile fell, replaced with a cautious look. Troy tried to beam at her and shuffled over, looking timid.

It was the girl who had been introduced last… the one who had been sitting in a corner even earlier. What was her name? He racked his brain, but couldn't remember it. So instead he said awkwardly, "Um, hi… I was wondering…" He gestured at the blocks lying next to her. She got up slowly, her eyes dark and unreadable.

"T-take them." She found it hard to repress the small quaver in her voice. She had been having so much fun! And now this boy had to come and take all the blocks away. She turned away and began to walk listlessly, dragging her feet. Troy felt ashamed of himself for interrupting her, and his naturally big heart made him want to reach out to her.

"A-actually…" he called after her, "do you want to play with us?" She turned, her big eyes widening in surprise. She studied him for a moment, almost critically, then let a ghost of a smile cross her face.

"I…I'd like that." She nodded. Troy grinned at her and reached out to grasp her hand in his.

"I'm Troy," he said simply. The girl looked unsurely at their clasped hands and let out a brief laugh.

"Gabriella." A silence passed by, in which Gabriella felt that maybe she hadn't been polite enough, and added, in imitation of her mother meeting new people, "and it's nice to meet you."

Troy tugged her towards the blocks in the corner. "Will you help me pick them up?" he asked her, and she nodded slightly. She bent down to gather some of the blocks, then straightened herself and looked around hesitantly, as if waiting for Troy's signal. He marched off towards Chad and the scattered blocks in the middle of the room and she trailed after silently.

Chad grinned at Troy and leapt up, scooping the blocks out of his arms. "More!" he exclaimed happily, carelessly flinging them about. One passed by Gabriella's face and she froze, dropping her own blocks. The sound echoed throughout the room as the pieces of wood rained down, coming to rest on the carpet with a final thud.

Troy frowned slightly, cocking his head to one side. "Um, this is Gabriella," he announced to his friends. He trotted over and pulled her hand again, half-dragging her to their place on the carpet. She offered a shy smile to everyone and they all waved and yelled greetings on the top of their voices. Her smile widened and she let out a small laugh, bashfully waving one hand. Troy looked thrilled.

"Gabriella's gonna play with us!" he declared. All the children nodded their heads, looking pleased. He turned to her, grinning broadly. Gabriella smiled back, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Thanks…" she said softly. Troy shrugged his little shoulders, an action learned from his father.

"It's okay." He sat down, picking up one block in each hand, and began remaking the broken city. After a tentative pause, she sat beside him and began building a tower next to him.

And that was how their friendship started.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

"Bye Momma!" Gabriella called to her mother, wiggling her arms above her head as her mother drove off. After watching the car disappear into the horizon, she turned and ran into the building, eager to start the day again. She had been going to school for a week.

Her mother had been amazed when her daughter came back from kindergarten the first day, beaming furiously, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Gabriella had always been an introvert and it delighted her greatly to know that her dear daughter had made friends and had fun. She had been insanely worried that Gabriella would not fit in, worried that she would still carry the memory of a few months back, when… but Mrs. Montez hadn't wanted to think about that at the moment. Or ever, for that matter.

Now the girl took her favourite blue seat, shaped like a cloud, next to the wall. She smiled at Mrs. A, who was always there no matter how early she came, and extended her hand with a piece of paper clutched firmly in it. "I got it," she murmured softly. "You told us to bring paper y-yesterday…" Mrs. A beamed at the small girl and nodded.

"You keep it now, you'll need it. Let's wait for the others, shall we?" Gabriella wasn't entirely sure what this meant, but it made her feel good inside – like she and Mrs. A were sharing a secret of some sort. So she smoothened out the crumpled paper and set it on her lap, waiting.

Soon enough, the other children scampered in, among them Troy and Chad; her newfound friends. She had started to cautiously interact with the other members of the class after Troy and Chad had built towers with her, and she found that she liked having friends. Though one day she had come home with tears in her eyes and blue Play-Doh all over her face and hair. It had taken her mother forty-five minutes to wash all the gunk out of her hair. Her mother told her that she should be glad that the Doh hadn't dried and stuck to her hair, or they would have had to cut it all off. She hadn't exactly known what her mother was talking about, but had been horrified at the thought of cutting off her long brown curls.

Troy and Chad settled down next to her, Chad looking sleepy and cranky, Troy laughing and waving his piece of paper in the air. Troy smiled at Gabriella, but Chad merely scowled slightly. Gabriella giggled quietly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, pointing to Chad. The puffy-haired boy didn't get a chance to reply as his friend said,

"He almost forgot to come!"

This was too much for Troy and Gabriella, who both dissolved into spasms of laughter. Chad blinked owlishly at them and scowled again, more fiercely than before. Gabriella stopped first, looking sympathetically at him.

"Sorry," she said earnestly. "I fell asleep in the car too." She gave a little nod. "My mom had to pick me up and shake me!" She giggled again, trying to smoothen out the paper again, which had been creased yet again. Then Chad asked an innocent enough question.

"Hey Gabriella… where's your dad? He never comes to take you home."

She froze, staring at Chad fearfully. Both the boys gave her curious looks. She got up slowly and chewed her lip vigorously. Then, without warning, she burst into tears and scurried away, scrubbing at her face.

Troy and Chad both looked alarmed, watching her figure running out of the doors. Troy stood up as well and dashed after her, suddenly worried. She wouldn't run onto the road, would she? His dad had told him that it was easy for a small kid to be hit by a car. For a minute he was struck by panic as he looked frantically around the playground, where they went before naptime every day. But then he saw a huddled figure by the swings and padded over, frowning in concern.

"G-gabriella?" he asked softly. A strangled sob answered him. He squatted down, reaching out apprehensively to pat her back. "Gabriella?" he repeated, a little louder. He could make out her reply this time.

"W-w-what?" she rasped, furiously clawing at her cheeks to wipe away the tears. Troy tugged gently on a curl of her hair to make her look up, and her brown eyes met his blue ones.

"What's wrong?" he questioned quietly. The girl shook her head slightly, suppressing a hiccup. Troy crossed his arms, a stubborn look coming to his small face. "Please tell me?"

She let out a heavy sigh, a strange sound from one so young. Troy, hearing it, was startled. "It's… my… my daddy!" she suddenly burst out, and the tears began to flow again. Impulsively Troy wrapped his arms around her in a hug, looking helpless. What was he supposed to do?

"What about him…?" he asked, looking anxious. Gabriella broke away from the hug, chewing on her bottom lip again.

"He… I just…" Troy cocked his head, waiting for her words patiently. "H-he's not here. He was bad, Troy! Bad! H-he would t-t-throw things at Momma and m-me, and he was m-m-mean… he hit us…" She let out another sob.

"He didn't love me!" she wailed, a heartrending cry coming from her. "He didn't love me, he didn't, he didn't… he hated me…" And she clung to Troy again and wept until she couldn't anymore. All the boy could do was pat her gently while his heart ached in sympathy for her.

Finally her tears subsided and she sat back, completely drained and trembling. Troy watched her carefully, trying to make out if she was better now. But his young mind hadn't yet learned how to pick up the subtle signs, and he concluded he didn't know. But his question was answered when Gabriella smiled shakily at him. "I'm… I'm okay…" she said quietly, and struggled up. He sprang up as well, and reached out to awkwardly pat her shoulder.

"It's… it's easy to fix," he told her gently. "He wasn't a good daddy. You and your mom were good, he wasn't. Just… just forget him." She tilted her head, her eyes searching his, and then nodded slightly.

"Yeah. Yeah… thanks again, Troy." Her smile was broader this time and she reached out and hugged him again. Troy beamed at her, happy that he had been able to ease her grief a little.

"It's okay," he told her sincerely. "I'm happy you're happy." He smiled and nodded, then reached out to take her hand. "Come on. Let's go back."

The two friends skipped back into class, where the other children had been working on their color activity. Mrs. A looked up and beckoned them over smilingly. "Come sit here, you two… Troy, you brought color pencils?" The boy nodded eagerly, pointing to the packet of brightly colored pencils on his seat. Both him and Gabriella sat down and watched what the others were doing. Troy picked up a colored pencil and began happily scrawling on his piece of paper.

She watched him for a little while and then hesitantly tapped his shoulder. "Hey Troy? Can I borrow a pencil, please?" He grinned and nodded, giving her the bright sky-blue pencil. She looked at it for a minute, a content smile on her face, and then started to color on her paper. In the background, Mrs. A was explaining to Chad that he could _not_ mix all the colors together and that he had to color them _separately_.

Gabriella became immersed in coloring her entire paper. Blue, her mother had named the color for her. It was such a beautiful color, so full of promise – the color of the sky. She was concentrating so hard on coloring that she didn't notice for a moment when the pencil snapped under the pressure applied.

She gawked at the two pieces of pencil in her hands, tears filling her eyes. Troy would be so upset! He was unspeakably proud of his collection – he had bragged about it all of the previous day. What could she tell him? She cringed for a minute, wondering if he would hit her like her father. He seemed so kind… but then again, hadn't her father seemed caring and compassionate as well?

Taking a deep breath, she gently poked his back. Troy jumped slightly, turning around with a slightly irritated look. "What?" he asked, squinting at her. She stretched out her hand, displaying the broken fragments of pencil, a fearful look on her face.

His anger faded almost immediately. Seeing the frightened look in her eyes, he reached out and hugged her again, a soft chuckle coming from him. "It's okay Gabriella." He took away the broken pencil and put it back in the box, and gave her another blue pencil. There was an open smile on his face.

"It's easy to fix."

**AN: So there you are! I'm not too happy with this one myself, I'm not sure if I managed to capture their childlike innocence well enough. And I'm not sure about the age kids start kindergarten... I hope I got it right...**


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